Latest Cars Reviews Blog: Seven Vintage Machines Down On The Edinburgh Street [Down On The Street Bonus Edition]

This is Down On The Street Bonus Edition, where we check out interesting street-parked cars located in places other than the Island That Rust Forgot. Today we've got seven machines shot by Battles in his hometown of Edinburgh, Scotland. Jump for the gallery and Battles' descriptions.

Morris 1000 Wagon: This nice, well used Morris 1000 Traveller caught my eye while I was trying to check some details on the Quattro/quattro I sent you photos of. The DVLA shows it as a 1000cc 1970 car but it’ll probably be a 1098cc car. I see this little lawbreaker jumping red lights and parking on pavements all over north Edinburgh but I’ve yet to get a good look at the driver.

Bentley Turbo R: Spotted in Roseburn, a nice area of Edinburgh next to the national rugby stadium. It was sandwiched in between two cars with homemade for sale signs in the window, it’s an area of town with little restriction on parking so I often see cars dumped there while they’re for sale. I don’t know if the Bentley is for sale but fuel at £1.10 a litre, I’m not sure if it’ll find a home. The DVLA records show this to be a 1997 car, the last year of production, and it really was in great shape.

Ice Cream Truck: Spotted on Princes St in Edinburgh, adjacent to the National Gallery of Scotland. The van is a 1970 BMC 250JU, 1970 was the last year that the BMC name was used, they were Austin Morris branded by the end of that year. It’s an evolution of a 1956 design that was the first uni-body van BMC produced. It’s powered by a 1.8 litre version of the B-series four cylinder engine, the ‘U’ in the name denotes that the engine was underfloor. The ice cream was decent, but hardly first class and they lacked even the most basic sprinkles and sauces. My Special Lady Friend refused to pose at the van, she didn’t seem to understand the honour of appearing in DOTS for the second time (she’s in the background of the Porsche photos I sent ages ago).

1966 Jaguar S Type: Spotted in Murrayfield, a really plush area of Edinburgh full of Georgian townhouses. It’s a 1966 Jaguar S type with the 3.8 litre XK engine. It’s almost just an update to the Mark II, it shares lots of bodywork and mechanicals though it had independent rear suspension and new lights at the front and rear. This car definitely works for a living, I’ve been chasing it for weeks and it’s never parked in the same place for long. Despite living on the streets, it shows no signs of corrosion and no bodywork damage, really amazing.

Audi Quattro: This is rather mysterious Audi Coupe that may or may not be a pukka UR Quattro. It’s a 1987 registered car with a 2177cc engine according to the DVLA, which would be possible if it had been first registered long after being built, nearly a year afterwards. The flared arches are correct, the interior looks correct but the badges and wheels are wrong. I think this is just a well presented and carefully modified Audi Coupe quattro (with a deliberate lower case Q) though it could be an original Audi Quattro (with a deliberate upper case Q) that has led an extremely hard life and undergone running repairs on a tight budget. It is nice but I’m a snob and I was disappointed that it wasn’t a definite UR Quattro.

Opel Monza: Spotted this Monza on the way back from brekko on Sunday. It’s a couple of streets away from my place in Trinity, north Edinburgh. When I was growing up, I always wished my Dad would buy a Monza. As it happened, he always drove Saab Turbos so I now understand that the Monza would’ve been a downgrade. As with most Opels in the UK, there was a Vauxhall badged version but it was never as cool as the Opel.